With their season on the brink and the Los Angeles Dodgers looking poised to sweep, the New York Yankees found their hero in Anthony Volpe, whose third-inning grand slam turned Game 4 into a spirited 11-4 comeback win over the Dodgers. The victory not only staved off elimination but also reignited the Yankees’ hopes of an improbable World Series title, as they head into a pivotal Game 5 on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.
The Dodgers had New York on the ropes early, with Freddie Freeman homering for an astonishing sixth consecutive game. Freeman’s first-inning blast into the right-field stands followed Mookie Betts’ double and seemed to cement the Dodgers’ momentum. Freeman became the first player to homer in each of the first four games of a World Series, surpassing the previous record held by Houston’s George Springer in 2017 and 2019.
The Yankees, however, struck back. In the bottom of the second inning, Volpe—New York’s 23-year-old Gold Glove shortstop and a lifelong fan—worked a walk after falling behind 0-2. He soon scored the Yankees’ first run on an Alex Verdugo groundout, which trimmed the Dodgers’ lead and set the stage for his heroics in the third inning.
Volpe’s defining moment came with the bases loaded and two outs. Facing Daniel Hudson, he turned on a knee-high slider, launching it into the left-field stands to put the Yankees up 5-2. It was a historic blast, making Volpe the first player to hit a grand slam and swipe two bases in a World Series game. Fans erupted, chanting Volpe’s name as he rounded the bases, and the once-muted energy of Yankee Stadium roared back to life.
New York continued to pile on runs, with catcher Austin Wells and second baseman Gleyber Torres also going deep to secure the lead. Wells launched a towering sixth-inning shot into the second deck off Landon Knack, and Torres capped an eighth-inning surge with a three-run homer off Brent Honeywell, blowing the game open and putting it out of reach for Los Angeles.
Dodgers catcher Will Smith kept L.A. within reach, homering off Yankees starter Luis Gil in the fifth, which also saw Freeman beat out a relay to avoid an inning-ending double play. But New York’s bullpen held firm. Clay Holmes, Mark Leiter Jr., Luke Weaver, and Tim Mayza combined for five innings of one-hit, scoreless relief with seven strikeouts, locking down the victory and preventing a historic sweep.
The Yankees’ offensive resurgence came from unexpected contributors at the bottom of the order. Volpe, Wells, and Verdugo, who had collectively struggled throughout the Series, drove in seven of New York’s 11 runs. Yankees star Aaron Judge finally broke through, driving in his first run of the Series with a single in the eighth, but remains just 2 for 15 over four games. Dodgers’ phenom Shohei Ohtani, nursing a partially separated shoulder, similarly struggled, going 1 for 4 on the night to match Judge’s .133 average in the Series.
Game 5 will see Yankees ace Gerrit Cole face off against Dodgers’ starter Jack Flaherty in a rematch of the Game 1 pitchers’ duel. As New York chases history, hoping to become only the second team in baseball history to overcome a 3-0 Series deficit, memories of the 2004 Boston Red Sox—who famously rallied to beat the Yankees in the ALCS—loom large. But for now, Yankees fans can celebrate Volpe’s star-making performance and the thrilling fight that has kept their championship dreams alive.
